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SongTimestamps.com

Turn a Traktor History playlist into a timestamped tracklist

Convert a Traktor History .nml into a timestamped tracklist using the play times from your DJ set. A collection playlist alone may not contain those times.

That makes it a better record than hand-placed markers, because it cannot drift and you cannot forget to do it. Drop the .nml here and it becomes a tracklist.

Drop your project or session file here

Ableton .als, FL Studio .flp, rekordbox .cue, Traktor .nml or Serato .session.

Your file is read in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

No file to hand?

Run a real mix through it and see exactly what comes out. A twelve-track recording running an hour and a quarter.

Or a sample from:

On your phone?

Your project file is probably on another computer. Send yourself the link and pick this up there.

What you get back

A list ready to paste into a YouTube, SoundCloud or Mixcloud description.

0:00 Kestrel Lane - First Light
6:12 Ardent Fields - Paper Harbour
13:15 Nomi Vale - Slow Transit
19:48 The Quiet Wire - Understory

Step by step

  1. 1Play your set. Traktor logs every track into a History playlist by itself, so there is nothing to mark up while you play.
  2. 2Find the session afterwards: History playlists are filed by date in Traktor’s browser tree, under Archive.
  3. 3Right-click the session and export it as NML, or take the .nml straight from the History folder in your Traktor documents folder.
  4. 4Drop the .nml file here.

History playlists, not ordinary playlists

This is the distinction that catches people out. A playlist you built in your collection lists which tracks are in it — it has names but no times. A History playlist records a session that actually happened, and only that carries the start times.

Export the wrong one and the file looks right and contains nothing usable. Rather than guess, this page will tell you plainly that the playlist has names but no play times, and where to find the one that does.

Sets that run past midnight

Traktor records a wall-clock time for each track, which is a problem for the sets most likely to need a tracklist: the ones that cross midnight. Read naively, a track played at 00:03 looks earlier than one played at 23:58, and the second half of the night sorts to the top of the list.

The order tracks were played in is preserved and the roll past midnight is carried forward, so a set that starts at 23:12 and ends at 01:30 produces one continuous timeline.

Where the names come from

Playlist entries point at tracks in your collection rather than carrying names of their own, so the artist and title are looked up from the collection section of the same file. A playlist exported without it has times but no names — you will be told when that happens rather than left with a list of blanks.

Questions

Where does Traktor keep History files?
In a History folder inside your Traktor documents folder, filed by date, with one .nml per session. You can also find them in Traktor's own browser tree, filed under Archive by date.
Do I need to mark anything up while I play?
No. Traktor logs each track as you play it. The only thing to do afterwards is find the session file.
Why does my exported playlist have no times?
Because it is a collection playlist rather than a History playlist. Only History records when each track was played. Use the session from Archive for the night in question.

Using something else?

Serato

Turn a Serato History session into a timestamped tracklist

Open

rekordbox

Turn a rekordbox recording into a timestamped tracklist

Open

YouTube chapters

Make YouTube chapters for a DJ mix

Open

There is also a full tutorial covering all five programs and what to do when the times look wrong.